


Welcome to Level One

by alpacamyhedgehog



Series: Librarians of S.H.I.E.L.D. [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - Library, Gen, Librarians, Libraries, Library Shenanigans, Post-Avengers (2012), Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pre-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., misanthropic librarian aesthetic, seriously so much tea and antacids are involved for Amy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-10-18 16:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10620621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alpacamyhedgehog/pseuds/alpacamyhedgehog
Summary: Five times working for S.H.I.E.L.D. stresses Amy out and one time it doesn’t.





	1. Chapter 1

Amy was still reeling from the polygraph. 

Had she said her name right? Did she give her current address or her old one?

“Your responses for the test questions were great,” the agent in charge had reassured her. “Just answer honestly now, and you’ll be just fine.”

Usually the Level One polygraph was given to cadets a year into their program at the Academy; the Level Two exam was a requirement for graduation.

The A.C.C.E.S.S. staff who’d been through the Academy (Frank, Roger, Karla, Jen, and Ryan) were already ahead of her. And of course June already had who-knows-how-many clearances. They could let agents and analysts into Levels One and Two in Restricted Files, but Amy couldn’t.

It felt like being the lone adult student at a piano recital where all the other musicians were under the age of twelve.

Even though she passed, polygraphs were already shaping up to be Amy’s least favorite part of her job.The spaces of silence in between questions had made her wonder if she had gone deaf from stress--if that was even possible--and then she almost jumped out of her skin whenever the agent broke that silence to ask her another question.

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey,” June sympathized later, when she came to see how Amy had done on the polygraph. “I wish I could tell you that it gets better, but it doesn’t.”

Amy growled under her breath and buried her aching head on her desk.

“Some of the upper-level clearances require two or three polygraphs.”

“NOT HELPING.”

June nodded. “Well, I have something that might cheer you up. It’s to celebrate your Level One clearance...and a bit of housekeeping.”

“You know I’m always on board for cleaning,” Amy joked, rising from her desk.

“Administrative housekeeping-y stuff, silly!”

Amy had reached the doorway now and waved June out of the way so she could get through.

“Paperwork?” she asked hopefully.

“Amy Rudaski, you are a massive nerd.” June grinned. “This isn’t paperwork, though.”

She strode past the reference desk, toward the opposite side of the reading room, and Amy rushed to keep up with her. It looked like they were heading toward--Restricted Files?

They paused outside the door, and June gestured toward the ID scanner.

“As of this morning, your S.H.I.E.L.D. ID gives you access to this department. Well, the first level, that is. You’ll have to keep working at those security clearances to get access to the rest.” 

She beamed at Amy, who stood there clutching her ID card, still unsure of what to do.

Since Amy’s arrival at the Triskelion three months ago, she’d had to adjust to a lot of unexpected situations, including the fact that there was a whole section of the library that she’d never seen.

It wasn’t just curiosity that irritated her. Despite being a reference librarian, she couldn’t help patrons find classified materials at all. One does not simply walk into Restricted Files, as Ryan kept saying. 

She could get Karla and Jen to help agents with appropriate clearances access documents from Levels One and Two, but for anything else, she had to call in June.

It wasn’t that she minded not being able to get to classified documents, or that her staff had more clearances than she did. She understood why she had to go through tests and polygraphs to work toward getting those security clearances. Really, she did. It was just inefficient.

Now, though, sudden curiosity overwhelmed her. A world of government secrets lived just beyond those doors, and for the first time, she’d be able to see them. Well, some of them.

Before she could lose her nerve, Amy ran her ID through the scanner, and pushed the door open.

A vast array of filing cabinets, row after tidy row, filled up the space to her right. A few bookshelves filled with an assortment of bland-looking volumes and Hollinger boxes wrapped around the far end of the room, but for the most part it looked as if Level One mostly consisted of files.

To the left, a few desks and chairs like the ones in the main reading area were arranged so agents could study the files in the collection within the confines of the room. Slate grey wallpaper made the room look both practical and mysterious, no doubt June’s design choice. Old maps and photographs were hung over the seating area. Amy wasn’t sure if these decorations were classified, but she wouldn’t be surprised.

Scanning the room, Amy couldn’t help noticing that there was no doorway that would have led into the next level.

“How,” she started, hesitantly. “How do you get to Level Two?”

“Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you?” June teased. She gestured to Amy’s left, to an elevator door that had been just out of Amy’s line of vision.

“Oh.” Amy suddenly understood. “They’re  _ literally _ levels!”

“Everything else is underground, yes,” June explained. “We keep documents classified for Levels One through Eight in here, but there are only five floors. Some levels are kept in separate rooms on the same floor, and some are basically just a few locked filing cabinets.”

Amy gaped.

“There’s--there’s just so much.”

“And some of the information is still redacted. Look.”

June opened the drawer to the nearest filing cabinet and rifled through it until she pulled out a paper for Amy to see. It was a typewritten memo, dated from the seventies. Most of it was still readable, but here and there the document was dotted with black marks.

“Of course, that doesn’t always keep things a secret, and there are ways to fill in the gaps, especially if you have access to higher levels. After all, ninety percent of classified information is really just unclassified information that’s been pieced together in the right way.”

“How many levels do you even have clearance  _ for _ ? Or is that classified too?” Amy felt like she should have known this already, but she suddenly realized that she had no idea how closely her friend was tied to S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Oh, I have Level Nine clearance. That’s required for direct responsibility over files classified through Level Eight.”

Noting the surprise on Amy’s face, June added, “Didn’t I tell you? I did some work for S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent before deciding to switch to library science, so that gave me a head start on getting those clearances out of the way.”

She touched Amy’s arm lightly. “Don’t worry, though. You’re smart and trustworthy. You’ll get those other clearances out of the way in no time.”

Amy didn’t notice the compliment until a beat later--too late to respond.

When June turned back toward the door, Amy reached for the light switch.

“Wait, there’s one more thing!” June held out a hand to stop her and gestured toward a small box embedded in the wall next to the light switch.

Upon closer inspection, the box was actually a screen--a blank black screen that blinked to grey when June touched it.

“This is our security system. Well, sort of.”

“Sort of?” Amy asked, watching multi-colored 2-D buttons flash to life on the screen.

June pressed a few buttons and, when a keyboard appeared on screen, typed in a passcode that Amy couldn’t see.

“If anything happens in the main library or the rest of the building--fire, flooding, an active shooter--the system will protect Restricted Files and Special Collections. It’ll give a 90 second warning for anyone in those departments to get out, and then they’ll completely seal off from the rest of the library. No one, no water, pests, or air, would be able to get in.

“The thing is, the system operates on biometrics. Right now, I’m the only person in the program to operate or release it, and I figure it’s safer if you’re in the system, too. If anything were to happen to me after the system gets activated, it would be a pain in the butt to retrieve the collections from the vault again.”

Amy was still trying to process all this.

“So,” she tried. “You trigger the system--”

“Well,” June began again. “A Triskelion-wide alarm will trigger it. For more sensitive, library-specific situations, I have a panic button in my office, and I’ve put in a work order for you to get one in yours.”

“Great. So how do you unseal the room? The scanner’s in here, so…”

“Oh, that’s easy.” June’s forehead smoothed. “There’s another scanner in my office. I’ll show you, but for now I need to get your biometric info and then I’ll walk you through the process. It’s important that you know how to work the system. If something happens to keep us from releasing the alarm, the collections will stay sealed off indefinitely. There are S.H.I.E.L.D. higher-ups who could unseal it, but you really don’t want to call Fury or Hill in if you’ve forgotten how the security system works.”

Amy eyed the screen with mild suspicion.

“So...what do you need from me?”

“Scans of your hand and your iris. That okay with you?”

Hesitantly, Amy held out her hand.

“Scan away.”

It only took a couple minutes to finish, and they were done. The screen flashed  _ AUTHORIZATION ADDED - AMY RUDASKI - 1649 - 04 APR 2013  _ before switching to  _ SYSTEM ACTIVE _ and finally darkening again. 

Was it really almost 5:00? Either Restricted Files existed in a pocket universe, or she was more overwhelmed than she’d thought.

When she looked up, June was staring at her as if to gauge her reaction, her head tilted like a curious beagle.

“Is that everything?” Amy asked. “I wanted to fix some tea before wrapping a few more things up and going home.”

June gently shooed her out, turned off the lights, and shut the door firmly behind them.

Back in the main space of the reading room, the late afternoon sunlight illuminated the shelves on the second and third floors in a way that made them seem eerily unfamiliar. On the main floor below, the light toyed with the desks and chairs of the reading room, casting weird, long shadows across the floor.

Amy shook her head and told herself that she just wasn’t used to seeing things from this side of the library. That, and it had been a long day.  _ Definitely time for tea _ , she thought, heading for the break room. 

“Wait,” June interrupted. “One more thing!”

Amy turned back again in time to catch June’s warm, mischievous smile, unexpectedly welcome after the past few minutes of classified government documents and security systems worthy of a sci-fi flick.

“Welcome to Level One.”


	2. Chapter 2

She’d had it.

Amy stalked from her desk to the office doorway and into the reference area.

Lately they’d had a problem with male agents harassing the reference librarians.

Older agents called them “sweetheart” and let their hands linger a little too long when they gave the librarians their ID cards. Younger ones liked to say things like “I’d like to check you out, if you know what I mean,” with a smirk--which was only funny when the librarians said it about each other.

Just last week, Amy had tracked down one agent who had scrawled his phone number on the cover of a library book and left it on the desk while Karla was shelving nearby.

Karla always had snark for agents who had the nerve to follow her through the stacks, or to call her exotic. She was the one who got called “bitch” by men with soured faces before they left the library empty handed.

When she told stories about her latest comebacks during staff meetings, Amy smiled proudly in spite of her disappointment in mankind and handed Karla a harassment report to fill out.

It was Jen, the quietest of the reference minions, who preferred shelving to sitting at the desk, that Amy worried about.

And today, when Jen had said “Thanks for returning these, Agent Schneider,” glancing pointedly at Amy’s office several times...well. Amy wasn’t always great at reading other people, but that came across like a cry for help.

Amy had heard about Schneider from Jen, about the creepy way he’d watch her work from across the reading room and the not-so-subtle pickup lines he threw her way as he lounged on the reference desk.

Somehow, he was never there when Amy was watching. She would come back from a meeting or a lunch break to find Ryan and Karla sitting with Jen at the reference desk, trying to cheer her up with coffee or cat videos.

Now that she’d caught him, she wasn’t going to let him get away easily.

By the time she reached the desk, he had launched into a tall tale about one of his field missions--something about single-handedly taking down several hostiles in Brazil. He was leaning over the desk with one arm resting heavily on the stack of books he’d just returned so Jen couldn’t take them away.

Jen’s rolling chair was scooted so far back she couldn’t reach the desk anymore.

Amy tugged the books out of his grasp and gave them to Jen to scan in.

“I need you to do some shelving, okay?” she said as kindly as possible. “Since Karla and Ryan are busy, I’ll take your shift at the desk for a while.”

Jen took the books and retreated to the safety of the stacks.

Amy settled in the reference desk chair, taking her time before looking at him coolly.

“Can I help you?”

He was almost pouting. “I didn’t get to finish my story!”

“Sir.” She was trying hard to keep her voice level. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No, I just wanna find my friend. I’m sure she wants to hear how I managed to get out alive.”

Amy raised her eyebrows. “Oh, really. You’re sure.”

“Um. Yeah?” He was looking at her quizzically.

“I don’t want my librarians to get distracted from their work, Agent Schneider.”

“Come on,” he whined. “You know how it is.”

“No, I don’t!” She tapped the desk angrily as they glared at each other. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t we go ask her.”

He took a step backwards. “Oh no, I don’t think that’s necess--”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” 

She left the desk and booked it toward the stacks, shooting Schneider a glare over her shoulder to make sure he was following.

He was, but a few steps behind. His cocky grin looked like it was going to slide off his face and melt into the carpet.

Jen froze, holding a book in mid-air, when she saw her boss storm up with Schneider in tow.

“Jen.” Amy had to catch her breath. She hoped the short pause made her sound more dramatic. “Is this agent your friend?”

Jen’s gaze drifted over to Schneider, who looked like he wished he was back in Brazil.

“No,” she said finally.

“Do you want to hear the rest of what he has to say?”

“No.” Her voice was stronger now.

“Does he make you feel uncomfortable while you’re trying to do your job?”

“ _ Yes. _ ”

Amy turned to Schneider, who looked like he was about to protest. “I think you’d better leave now.”

“But it’s not f--”

She grabbed him by the wrist and started walking, which shut him up again. When they were close to the door, she let go and turned to glare at him.

“Look here, buddy,” she hissed to keep herself from shouting. “Because A.C.C.E.S.S. operates under S.H.I.E.L.D., I can’t officially kick you out without filing a harassment complaint, but you can be sure I’m gonna do that immediately. In the meantime, I strongly suggest you leave.”

“But--”

“Oh, and by the way, I might be new to S.H.I.E.L.D., but that story you were telling sounded a lot like a classified mission, and I don’t think you’re allowed to share those details. I’ll make sure HR hears about that, too.”

He stood there opening and closing his mouth like a very large, very pale fish.

Amy gestured toward the door. “Now get the hell out of my library!”

He left, still flabbergasted, and Amy made her way back to the desk, slowly becoming more aware of how loud her voice had gotten. She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling embarrassed as her anger high started to wear off.

When she looked up, June and Jen were watching her from the reference desk. Or more accurately, Jen was in front of the desk while June was perched on top, gently kicking the desk while talking soothingly to her.

Amy thought Jen was still in shock until she said, “That was  _ awesome _ ! I can’t believe you just told him to leave like that.”

With a sigh, Amy looked to June for criticism. “Too much?”

“Hmm. On a professional level, probably.” She tipped her head to one side and gave Amy a thin-lipped grin. “I thought it was perfect.”

“Oh.” Amy was really starting to feel tired now. Maybe a cup of tea…

June jumped down from the desk. “Wait, where are you going? You have forms to fill out, young lady.”

“But--”

“No buts.” June looked more serious than usual. “He might have left without a fight, but we need to get that HR complaint filed before he tries to twist the situation around. I’ve seen that happen too many times, trust me.”

Amy groaned. “I don’t even have time to get tea?”

“Uh, no. We’re going to HR right now.” June wrapped one arm around Amy’s shoulder and another around Jen’s, who was still a little starry-eyed. “And we’re going to do this the right way--together.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah thank you all so much for your kind comments on the last chapter! Now that I'm finally done with the semester, I can spend more time updating the librarians' adventures. Hope you enjoy accidental mom!Amy as much as fight!Amy. :)

“Thanks, Mom.”

In the time it took Amy to process what had just been said, Jen’s face flushed through five different shades of red as she pressed a hand to her mouth and leaned forward until her head hit the conference table.

Karla almost laughed herself out of her chair. Even Ryan was grinning as he reached over and rubbed Jen’s shoulder.

“What did you just say?”

Jen groaned, her face still smushed on the table. “Can we just pretend that didn’t happen?”

“Right. Good plan. Okay. Let’s get back to our meeting.”

Amy was just as eager to ignore that awkward moment. She reshuffled her papers and shot a quick glare at the other two, who were still giggling.

“I’m sorry,” Karla gasped, dashing out of the conference room. “I’m gonna need a minute.”

While they waited for her to get back, Amy tried to make use of the time by asking Ryan and Jen about the past work week and what kind of challenges they’d had.

Just when she felt like they were getting somewhere, the door swung open and Karla strode in with a gleaming smirk.

“Thanks for waiting...mom.”

She and Ryan erupted into laughter again, and Jen giggled weakly, even though her ears reddened.

Amy threw her head back with impatience, but she gave them time to calm down. She’d heard of this happening to teachers--even some of the children’s librarians she’d worked with in New Haven--but to have an adult employee call her “mom” was totally unexpected.

She wasn’t even that motherly. Okay, maybe in a “comb your hair, tidy your desk, are you getting enough to eat,” kind of way. She just wasn’t a cuddly, storytime kind of person.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

When she said it with  _ that  _ tone of voice, they shut up and let her start the meeting again.

See, she was that kind of mother. The no-nonsense, look-both-ways-before-crossing-the-street mother. Um. Employer.

Amy was still thinking about it when she walked past the reference desk on her way to June’s office later.

She definitely did not think about her reference librarians as being children. They were underlings. Most of the time, they did their job really well, and she was learning to like them as people.

She  _ did _ like being around them. But they didn’t deserve to be looked at as children. That would be unprofessional on her part, not to mention an insult to them as capable adults.

“Hey, Mom, come check this out,” Ryan called.

“Yes?” Her body jerked toward the desk before she realized what she was doing.

Karla cackled, and Ryan threw his head back, shaking with giggles.

“Don’t,” Amy said, feeling a headache coming on. “Ugh. I--is this supposed to some kind of sarcasm that I don’t understand?”

They looked at each other. Ryan picked up his phone, but Karla looked serious.

“I mean,” she started, “You kinda remind me of my Amma, but just a little bit. You both kind of have Molly Weasley ‘not my daughter, you bitch’ vibes.”

Amy was about to ask what that meant, but Ryan interrupted.

“Does your mom still not know you work here?”

“What?” Amy said. “How could you keep something like that a secret?”

Karla’s eyes darted away. “Well...she knows I work for S.H.I.E.L.D., okay? Just not the library. She wasn’t cool with me studying library science, so it when I told her I got into the Academy, she assumed I was going to be a field agent like my brother. She got so excited that I guess I just didn’t want to disappoint her.”

“And what does your brother think about that?” Amy had met Sam a couple of times, but he was as reserved as Karla was vivacious, so she didn’t know much about him.

“Well, he doesn’t really get to decide what I tell her, does he?” The stubborn line of her mouth softened a little as she added, “He’s there for me when I need backup.”

“What about you, Ryan?” Amy asked. “What’s your mom like?”

He looked up from his phone and grimaced. “You know I live with my grandmother, right?”

“Oh.”

She mentally kicked herself for forgetting that. Becoming a manager all at once had been overwhelming, and she still didn’t know how she was supposed to relate to the other librarians.

“I, um. Haven’t talked to my mom in a couple years.” He tried to return to his phone, but he glanced over at Amy again. “Abuela takes good care of me. We look out for each other.”

Karla poked his arm excitedly. “She’d really like Amy, though, dontcha think?”

“Yeah…” He grinned slowly. “I mean, she adopts all my friends, but she and Amy have a lot in common.”

_ Friends?  _ A small part of Amy reminded her to be professional, but the rest of her was morphing into a happy, gooey, metaphorical puddle.

“Wait,” Karla interrupted. “Isn’t Jen’s mom a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?”

“Huh. Yeah.” Ryan abandoned the phone and stared into space for a moment. “Yeah, I think she’s pretty high up, too. Maybe you remind Jen of her too, Amy.”

“Anyway, _ whatever _ .” Karla bolted out of her chair and reached for a stack of books to shelve. “Sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable. It was just too funny.”

“Shut up.” Amy surprised herself, and Karla and Ryan both looked at her with raised eyebrows. “I’m your mom now.”

Ryan looked up at her, and she couldn’t tell if he was giving her a confused look or a disgusted one. “Really?”

“No. Don’t call me that again.”

“But maa--” Karla teased.

Amy turned back and pointed at them. “Hey. Don’t you make me turn this library around!”

She didn’t realize she was walking backwards until almost too late. When she turned and glanced up--way, way up-she realized she’d almost backed into--

Fury.

She’d only seen him at A.C.C.E.S.S. once before, a few months ago. Other librarians had seen him too, but never at the same time or place. He was unpredictable, moving around the Triskelion as easily as a shadow.

Amy stammered something at him.

“Good afternoon to you too, Ms. Rudaski.” He waved the books he was holding, as if to ask her to step aside so he could check out at the desk.

She nodded, and booked it to June’s office before her face could get any redder.

It wasn’t until later that she realized he had definitely heard her last words to the librarians. He had given her a slight grin, and she couldn’t help wondering if it had been because of that instead of her blunder.

Maybe he’d said something similar to his S.H.I.E.L.D. underlings before--or even the Avengers.

Maybe even experienced bosses felt like they were wrangling stubborn children from time to time. 

Well, she had time to learn. Until then, she could entertain herself with mental images of Fury reading bedtime stories to a row of superheroes in pajamas.


	4. Chapter 4

It took Amy a while to process what the woman was asking.

“Ma’am,” she began, still confused, “I think you must be mistaken. We don’t charge fines on overdue books.”

“But that’s not what the sign says!” The woman, a middle-aged analyst, was getting frustrated. Her eyes were getting rounder, and she was clutching the edge of the reference desk with an effort that made Amy think about trying to save the computer before she tipped the desk over.

“Wait, what sign?”

The analyst stomped away and returned clutching an 8 ½ x 11 sheet with a strip of masking tape on one side.

Amy smoothed out the paper and read, “Instead of overdue fines, we now accept shirtless photos of Cap--”

“No.” She set the page aside carefully, her face burning. “I’m very sorry, but I think you’re the victim of a prank here.”

“Too bad,” the analyst said, more calmly than Amy expected. “I’m really good at photoshop, or at least the other girls in my department think so. I’ve done all the Avengers a couple times--I’ve been thinking of making a pin-up calendar.”

Amy gave her a polite smile. “Good for you.”

She was going to have Words with whoever was responsible for this.

*

“Do you know what’s going on with the bathrooms?” Karla said to no one in particular at lunch.

“Yeah, what’s up with the bathrooms?” Ryan asked, looking back and forth between Amy and June.  “People have been coming up to the desk all morning asking about it.”

June shrugged. “Wouldn’t know. Been trying to get a hold of people all day. Making phone calls is the  _ worst _ .”

“Is there something wrong?” Amy asked. “I’ve been busy too, and I haven’t heard anything.”

“So...neither of you put the sign there, and you don’t know anything about maintenance going on in there today?” Karla’s eyes glinted with frustration.

June shook her head as she finished up her apple and started unwrapping a cookie.

Karla took a deep breath. “There is an out of order sign in our bathroom...and on every bathroom along the hallway on this floor.”

Amy thought for a minute. “Are we sure it isn’t--”

“--a secret government experiment?” Ryan finished. “Already thought of that.”

“Did any of you actually check inside the bathroom?” she asked with impatience.

Ryan and Karla grimaced at each other. Clearly that hadn’t even crossed their minds.

“I don’t know,” Karla began, her look of chagrin evolving into a smirk. “I took my business elsewhere.”

June snorted hard, a chunk of sandwich flying out of her mouth and landing on the table.

With an eyeroll at all of them, Amy pushed her chair back. “Alright, you goons. All the bathrooms are suddenly out of order without a staff alert. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

June wheezed and buried her face on the table to try to control her laughter. This time, Karla and Ryan started giggling, too.

Before Amy could protest, Frank burst into the break room and flung a crumpled piece of paper onto the table.

“Okay, who’s our prankster?” he demanded.

Ryan smoothed out the paper to reveal one of the out of order signs with a teasing grin. “Frank, you rebel.”

He leaned against the wall and straightened his skinny tie. “What can I say? I like to live on the edge.”

Amy  _ tsked _ and turned her attention to the sign. It looked vaguely familiar, until she realized it used the same font and color scheme as the sign from the book drop.

She bit her lip in frustration. The first sign had been embarrassing, but this was on a different level. There was probably a S.H.I.E.L.D.-wide rule against pranks like this. She’d have to check her handbook…

*

She brightened a little when she saw Marcus from across the reading room.

It had been almost two weeks since he’d been to the library. After getting his GED, he’d had no real reason for coming in, although Amy had spotted him once in the cafeteria when she’d forgotten to bring a lunch, taking advantage of the ice cream bar. He must have had four or five scoops on that cone, all wildly different flavors.

He must be bored. Studying had taken up most of his free time before, and she didn’t think there was much for a kid to do around the Triskelion without getting in trouble.

Quickly, she set down the files she’d been sorting and walked over to say hi.

He was looking at the new books display, which boasted some shiny new volumes on the SSR that Amy had selected herself and placed where everyone in the reading room could see them.

When she got closer, he looked up at her as if he’d been expecting her. He was fiddling with one of the book’s covers, and he turned the book up so she could see it.

The cover he was adjusting had a photo of a T-rex next to a WWII tank.

Amy’s eyes narrowed. She scanned the pile of books next to him. One of the spines read: “Oreos: A History” and another said “How to Find Out if the Government is Spying on You in 12 Easy Steps.”

These were not the new books she’d put on display. Well. They were, just with homemade covers.

“Did you know the Triskelion has a print shop?” He grinned in spite of her best glare.

She lunged at him, and he dodged, leapfrogging over the nearest chair as she chased him out of the library.


	5. Chapter 5

Jemma Simmons: I’m sorry, Ms. Rudaski. I just don’t understand what you’re asking me to do here.

Amy: Marcus. Is. Bored.

S: Mhm, as you’ve been saying. However, I fail to see my role in--

A: Look, Agent--

S: Excuse me, but I’m only a cadet.

A: Oh, sorry. I’m sorry. I’m still trying to sort out all the protocol around here. Look, Cadet Simmons, I wanted to talk with you about this, because I assumed since you’re younger, you might be able to see this from his perspective.

S: I’m not exactly sure what you’d like me to do. My role is simply to monitor Mr. Adams and perform the necessary physical tests he needs to take before he can be released from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

A: But he’s not a Mr.! He’s a kid, and he’s getting into trouble because he’s bored here with no one his age to hang out with.

S: As I keep saying, this isn’t my responsibility. I’m simply trying to complete these tests so I can finish my practicum and graduate from the Academy. And I have to say, it’s been an enormous honor to work with a powered individual, but anything beyond professional interactions is out of my area.

A: I understand. Thank you for your time, Agent--um. Cadet Simmons.

S: Fine. Have a nice afternoon, Ms.--oh.

A: Something I can help you with?

S: Is that--

A: A copy of Director Carter’s papers? Absolutely.

S: Oh my. I admire Peggy Carter so much. I mean--as a British woman--working for an American intelligence agency, that is…

A: She was my childhood hero. Well, one of them.

S: I had no idea she even existed until I started at the Academy! Fortunately, one of our first classes was S.H.I.E.L.D. history, and she was one of the very first people we studied. I was feeling so very homesick, and her story made me feel less alone.

A: I know what you mean. She taught me how to stand up for myself and how important it is to be the best at what I love.

S: I’ve never read her papers! This book is here at the library?

A: Yeah, we have one set for reference, but I checked this one out from the main collection. I’m on the third volume though, so you wouldn’t have to wait to start reading.

S: Yes, I’d like to find that now, if I may!

A: Ryan’s at the desk now. I’m sure he’d be glad to help you find it.

S: Wait, wasn’t there something you were asking me to do?

A: Oh. So, Marcus…I was wondering if you could keep him busy, talk to him about things he’s interested in...something like that.

S: I suppose it depends on what he’s interested in.

A: He likes science. Biology, mostly.

S: Lucky for him, I happen to have two degrees in biochemistry! I might even have some textbooks I could share, depending on his comprehension level.

A: Wow, thanks...I’m sure he’ll be really excited about that. 

S: You’re certainly welcome! Anything for a fellow Carter fan.


	6. Chapter 6

Amy settled into her seat on the metro, promptly leaning her head against the window and rolling her eyes as Frank and Cora leaned over the back of their seats to talk to June.

It wasn’t her idea to bring the whole menagerie of librarians along. She just wanted to get away for the afternoon by herself, explore the city a little, and spend a quiet evening back at her apartment.

No such luck. When the others found out she was planning to visit the Library of Congress, they all clamored to come, too.

Amy wasn’t happy about it to begin with, but she’d known she was making a mistake when they began bickering about it (“The cherry blossom festival is this weekend--we could go early!” “No, let’s wait and go clubbing tonight instead…”).

“Well  _ I’m _ going to the LoC! You can come with, or stay behind,” she had shouted above their excited yammering. She’d been planning this trip all week, and she wasn’t giving up on it now. 

Somehow, that settled it. June, Cora, Roger, Frank, Ryan, and Karla became her new travel buddies.

Since A.C.C.E.S.S. was only open til noon on Fridays, they had the whole afternoon to explore.

In spite of herself, and despite the fact that the librarians’ chatter didn’t get any quieter, Amy felt her annoyance slip away as the train lurched away from the Triskelion station platform.

It hadn’t been long since her first trip on the metro; she’d gotten the hang of the system but hadn’t stopped being fascinated by the sheer number of people being shuttled around the city.

She tuned out Frank’s enthusiastic tenor and squinted at her map, tracing her finger along the orange line all the way to Capitol South. The metro could be crowded and grubby and had its fair share of technical problems, but it was color-coded and clearly labeled, which was always nice.

After that, she leaned against the window again and watched the lights and the concrete walls flash by.

“Doors opening; please step back to allow customers to exit,” Amy mouthed along with the automated voice when they reached their station, only to look over at June to see that she was doing the same thing.

They giggled.

*

“We’re going to this one,” Amy informed them, pointing out the Thomas Jefferson Building on the map outside the station. 

Cora, who was also new to D.C, was staring at the map with glazed eyes.

“What’s in the other buildings?” she asked abruptly.

Amy surprised herself by feeling sympathetic instead of annoyed. Even after library school, she’d always thought of the Library of Congress as being one giant facility with every book you could think of. Her trip-planning research said that the library had multiple campuses just on Capitol Hill. It was a little overwhelming.

Frank leaned in with a very serious expression.

“Books,” he said, nodding. “Lots and lots of books.”

Cora almost fell over in a fit of giggles. It was a lame joke, but Amy couldn’t help laughing, too. Maybe this trip might be fun after all.

Getting through security into the Jefferson Building, however, was definitely nobody’s idea of a good time. Almost everyone got past the row of security guards and scanners just fine, except for Frank, who had forgotten he had a pocket knife with him.

He waved at Amy, who was already on the other side of security, and made dramatic frowning faces to try to tell her what was going on as the line backed up behind him until the security guards pushed him away.

“i’ll just wait out on the steps,” he texted her. “books are y’alls’ thing anyway :) :) :)”

Inside, Amy quickly grew distracted by the explosion of life and color around her.  It seemed like there was more artwork on the ceilings and the walls in one hallway than she’d seen in her entire life, and what she could see of  the great hall promised marble arches, stairways, and even an inlaid floor.

“I think I’m in love,” she breathed, before someone bumped into her and she realized she was blocking traffic in the middle of a staircase.

As gracefully as she could, she excused herself and picked her way back through the cluster of irritated tourists to get back to the info desk. She picked up a few brochures and decided to wander around on her own instead of searching for the rest of the group.

She read about the paintings and mosaics, noting symbolism and references to mythology, and then moved on to explore the rest of the library.

June was upstairs, gazing at round black-and-white designs painted near the ceiling.

“What are--oh,” Amy said. It took her a minute because she was so dazzled by the artwork, but she recognized what the paintings were supposed to represent from the archives classes she took with June in grad school. They were printers’ marks--early logos used by book printers to identify their work.

“Look at that one,” June pointed out with a teasing grin.

Over a banner with the printer’s name, John Day, was a painting made to look like an engraving of two people. One was waking up the other, pointing at the rising sun. Over the scene arched the motto,  _ Arise for It Is Day _ .

Amy rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t keep herself from grinning at the pun.

“Shut up, you love it.” June wasn’t about to tear herself away from the artwork, but she was smiling, too.

Amy snorted before wandering over to the exhibits.

She found Karla and Ryan in the Thomas Jefferson’s Library exhibit, where the founding father’s book collection was arranged in a spiral-curving shelf sealed in clear plastic. They wound through the books toward the center, Karla reaching out once or twice like she wanted to touch the spine of a book.

Ryan stopped to underline a quote in a blurb about how Jefferson had donated his personal collection to Congress to found the library and then had promptly begun buying more books.

“I cannot live without books,” he read aloud. “I want that tattooed across my forehead.”

Karla nodded and Amy, who wanted nothing tattooed on anything, said she understood how he felt.

When they emerged from the exhibit, Karla and Ryan disappeared into the map exhibit across the great hall, but Amy was drawn to the oversized, glittering mosaic on her right. 

Despite almost colliding with a tourist or two, she read about the mosaic from her visitor’s guide on the walk over. The tall, armored woman was Minerva, goddess of wisdom. It was fitting symbolism for a library, even if Amy had never seen a library with this much art before.

She wanted to get close enough to see Minerva’s owl, and the statue of Nike, and then she was trying to read the scroll the woman was holding, and before she knew it, she had climbed a small staircase beside the mosaic and was walking into a completely different room.

According to her guidebook, this was the reading room--or at least a window into it. Clear plexiglass separated the viewing platform from the rest of the room.

At first, Amy’s eye was drawn to the domed ceiling, lined with stained glass windows that lit elaborate paintings and statues of famous figures (she recognized Beethoven and Shakespeare). Some of that light filtered down to the reading room below, but for the most part it was dark, with rows of tables illuminated by green lamps.

It made her think about the A.C.C.E.S.S. reading room. Both spaces were similarly shaped, but where this room had art, A.C.C.E.S.S. had more books. She knew the Library of Congress was a functional library, of course, but this specific building was more like a Book Temple than anything else--a monument to the power of information.

As she watched the librarians helping researchers at the circular reference desk below, the feeling that she needed to return to the real world tickled her brain.

Where was everyone else, anyway?

When she left, she didn’t see anyone up on the second floor, and a quick scan of the marble staircases below made her wonder if everyone had left already.

Sure enough, she found June, Cora, Karla, and Ryan outside on the steps, listening to Frank tell stories about IT misadventures he’d had before working at A.C.C.E.S.S. Apparently a lot of the agents weren’t as tech-savvy as they seemed.

“Well, it’s uh…” Amy glanced at her phone. “After 4:30. If we hurry, we can beat rush hour on the Metro.”

“Great! Let’s get going,” Frank said, jumping up.

The rest of the librarians followed his lead.

“Wait,” June interrupted. “Where’s Roger?”

“Roger? Anybody see him since we got here?” Amy asked.

She felt like she’d left someone behind at a gas station during a field trip. They were all adults--did they really have to do a headcount to make sure everyone made it back in one piece?

She tried to call him, but the call went to voicemail. 

“Well, one of us is going to have to go back in and look for him,” she announced.

The librarians looked at each other.

“Unfortunate,” said Karla.

“Pocketknife.” Frank shrugged, holding out the knife.

June sat back down on a step, unwrapping a protein bar as if she intended to stay there for a while.

Amy pursed her lips. “Well, I guess I’ll go. Everybody else, stick together!”

She gave them a stern look before jogging up the steps again.

Just before she reached the top, Roger burst out the door, phone in hand.

“Where have you been?” Amy asked, exasperated.

“Um, the reading room?” He descended the steps with her, waving at the librarians below. “I picked up a reader registration card a couple weeks ago and wasn’t going to pass up the chance to take a look at their collection.”

The stunned silence from the other librarians suggested that they had not thought to do this and, like Amy, were now regretting it. 

Roger removed his glasses and tucked them into his shirt pocket, then got out his reader card for the other librarians to see. 

Cora frowned at the card and shook her head.

“June was the only one who noticed you were gone,” she offered with uncharacteristic spite.

Glowering, he deflated and drifted toward the back of the group.

Amy felt bad for Roger. Well, almost. If he wanted to impress his coworkers, he’d have to learn that leaving them behind and then gloating about it was not the way to do it.

Thankfully, by the time they reached the metro station, all but Roger seemed to have forgotten about the incident, and there was a lot of excited chatter about what they’d seen at the library. Ryan gushed about the maps for a while, and Cora promised to show him some World War II battle maps from the SSR collection.

“So,” Karla announced. “Next week we should go see the National Archives, yes or yes?”

“Funny,” Amy said, grinning, “that was next on my list.”

“You don’t mind us tagging along again?” June poked her in the shoulder.

“Nah, it’s…” She trailed off, looking around at the librarians around her.

It had been good to see the library, but it had also been nice to just be around the people she worked with. It was a good reminder that they shared more than a workplace, and it was really cool to be able to work with people who loved libraries as much as she did and who were passionate about connecting people with information.

Sometimes the agents they helped were difficult to deal with, but she was proud of her team. The worked well together, and she was beginning to think they could have fun together, too.

“It’s good,” she finished with a smile.

And it was...although she was already starting to feel tired. Tea and a quiet evening in with a documentary were definitely in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra special thanks to beta reader [beradan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/beradan/pseuds/beradan/) for her patience and edits on this chapter, and for letting me borrow some of her reactions to the Jefferson Building for Amy.
> 
> I believe we'll be posting some actual LoC pictures from our actual trip to DC soon, so please visit librariansofshield.tumblr.com for extra content! :)


End file.
